


You Play It Back

by dessertmeltdown



Category: One Direction
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Reality Show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-06
Updated: 2015-01-06
Packaged: 2018-03-06 07:23:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3125945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dessertmeltdown/pseuds/dessertmeltdown
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis applies to go on a dating show.  He doesn't know how to choose the winner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Play It Back

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fiarra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiarra/gifts).



> I wasn't sure how to label this. Gen isn't quite right, but it's not overly romantic, either.
> 
> Thanks to Lee for allowing me to thrust this on her as I was writing it and a very big thank you to Rach for the speedy beta and britpick! All mistakes left are mine.
> 
> How many fics can I lift titles from Taylor Swift songs for?

Louis has no idea why he thought this was a good idea. The thing is, Lottie had seen the casting call online, and he had been really drunk when she'd told him about the show. A fucking dating show. It's ridiculous, but he hasn't been on a date in a long time. He'd applied and sent in a video (where he must've done a much better job of playing sober than he'd thought because he'd actually been _picked_ ), and now here he is.

The host, Nick Grimshaw, is on stage talking about him, talking about his life and his family, and Louis feels a bit ill. He doesn't get stage fright, not usually. He's definitely not a shy person, but something about this is just sitting wrong with him. He's supposed to go on a date each night for the next four nights and then at the end of it all he has to pick one to go on a second date with, and this is just all. He crumbles under pressure a little, so he's not sure how these dates are going to go.

The thing is, his life isn't exactly where he wanted it to be by the time he was 25. He had _plans_ , really, but none of them ever seemed to work out. He's technically an actor, and he does alright. He's had a few bit parts in plays, and he's done some adverts, but nothing more than that, no big break, and the coffee shop he works at isn't exactly a thrilling conversation starter.

Why had he talked to Lottie that night? He should have sent her to voice mail. Why had drunk!Louis thought this was a great idea? He's going to be ill.

He can see Nick look towards the side of the stage and throw him a look. Louis realizes quickly that that's his cue to come out. He'd forgotten he was meant to actually speak. He goes out on stage and waves a little, but there's a microphone in his face and he's nervous.

He's never nervous when the words belong to someone else and he can put on a character, but right now he's nervous. He blinks, telling himself it's a role – that he can play a part and be this charming person who just happens to have his name, and then he's a character. It's just an improv.

“Hello, Louis Tomlinson, 25, Doncaster.” Nick waves him over as he walks across the stage. When Louis gets over to him, Nick drapes his arm easily over Louis' shoulder. “Are you excited for your dates, then?”

“Excited, yes. Very excited.” He paints on a smile, bright and easy. He can play a crowd well, and he knows that. He knows. It's just the weird dating part of this all that makes him queasy, and why had he listened to his 18 year old sister of all people on the planet. This is a terrible idea. “I'm sure they'll all love me a great deal. It will be horrible to let three of them down after meeting the man of their dreams.”

Nick laughs, and Louis is pleased. He can charm anyone. This is going to be fun, and not make him feel nervous and awful. 

“And would you tell all of us a little about yourself, Louis from Doncaster?”

“Um, I live in London now, and I'm an actor. To be honest, I'm only here because I got really drunk one night and clicked on a link my sister sent me. Drunk Louis thought television dating programs were a great idea.” He grins at the audience, finally feeling in his element. This he can do. He can talk and charm a group of people who are being held captive.

“That sounds like a good time.” Nick grins. “Don't drink and surf the net, audience. You may end up on this show.” He turns to Louis. “Hopefully it all turns out alright for you here. So you know how this will work. Four dates in four nights where you'll both have cameras in your faces as you try to get to know one another, and then we meet back here and you choose the one you'd like to see again. Think you can handle that?”

“I think I can handle that.” Louis grins. “Never had four guys fighting over me before. This should be fun.”

“For us as well.” Nick laughs. “Now, I'm going to kick you backstage where you can't see or hear anything, while the audience here and at home gets to meet your potential love matches.” 

Louis nods and lets himself be dragged off stage and into a dressing room. He has to go back out after the other guys are introduced, but his nerves are calmed at least a little bit and if they weren't, there's a bottle of wine in the dressing room. Wine can definitely help him power through this.

+

The first date is at a pub, and he's meeting an Irish lad named, Niall. Louis doesn't even have to question it when Niall walks in and sits at the table – they'd all been given his picture, but he hadn't been given theirs. Niall is blond with his blue eyes and a wide open smile. He's enthusiastic about everything, and Louis learns that he's from Mullingar, and he had moved here for uni but hadn't lasted very long. It hadn't kept him from just sort of ...staying. 

“What made you seek romance on television, then?” Louis gulps down his beer. He knows why he did this. Six months single and a lot of alcohol and a well-meaning little sister can go along way to making Louis do something stupid and reckless. 

Something like using the telly to meet guys.

“For fun, I suppose.” Niall pauses. “I'm going to be honest, I was out at the pub when my friend, Bressie found the listing online. I haven't dated in a while. There were pints. There was a dare. I never back down from a dare, especially if there are pints involved. Lots of pints.”

Louis has never felt more of a kinship with anyone. “Something about drinking inspires people to do reality shows about dating, apparently.” He grins. “To being trashed and making poor choices!” He raises his glass to Niall.

Niall toasts with him and grins. “Definitely drink to that.” He laughs and gulps down the last of his pint. “Want another? We can get even more drunk and make more poor choices.”

Niall's eyes are wide and his smile is friendly and in this moment Louis wants nothing more than to make a whole number of bad choices with him. All of the bad choices.

They have chips and drink beer, and Louis can't remember the last time he spent the evening with someone who was so excited about life. Niall has an enthusiasm that Louis isn't really sure can ever be matched. 

“Let me tell you.” Niall is well drunk by now, and his face is red. Louis wants to kiss him, but he's not sure if he's allowed.

He's not sure he cares whether or not he's allowed.

“I auditioned for the X Factor once. Was awful. I was such a cocky little kid. The Irish Justin Bieber, I thought. Katy Perry held my fate in her _hands_ , Tommo. Fate in her hands.” He downs the last of his pint. “Crushed my soul and my dreams, she did. I could have been a _star_.” He makes an elaborate hand gesture that nearly makes Louis laugh up his beer, but he hasn't had that much, and he manages to hold it in.

“I almost auditioned once. Chickened out last minute.” He shrugs. He'd never been the best singer anyway, even though he'd been the best at his old school. That wasn't saying a lot.

Sometimes he wonders what would have happened if he'd gone to that audition. It doesn't matter tht much now, though, not really. Everything's sort of worked out. Kind of.

In a way.

Louis has completely forgotten that there are cameras there, but he feels Niall's ankle brush his own under the table and suddenly it's all he can see. He's having a good time. Almost good enough that he's not sure he needs three more dates – Niall is a good lad, fun and funny and Louis wants to know if he kisses with as much enthusiasm as he talks about his life.

But there are cameras, and somewhere nearby he hears a producer whispering to a camera man that it's nearly time to wrap it up. It's distracting. Louis tries to focus in on Niall, who has his phone out and he's pointing it at Louis. “Hey, Lou, come around here. Let's take a picture.”

Louis pushes the camera man and the producer away and slides around to the other side of the booth, pressing close to Niall for a picture. “Just in case,” Niall grins. “Even if I don't win, I like to take pictures. I like to remember things, you know.” 

Louis files that away, Niall liking to commemorate things. It seems really important, and he thinks he'll need to consider carefully when choosing. Although right now he's feeling like there won't be a choice to make at all.

+

The following night, Louis is supposed to meet up with a guy named Harry. This time it's at a nicer restaurant, some place Louis himself could never ever afford if he were paying with his own money rather than the show's. He hasn't been told anything about any of the guys that he's meeting, but they've been told about him. 

He's seated already, waiting for Harry to show up when the hostess brings someone to the table. He's dressed in clothes that look like he stepped right out of a Burberry advert, and his hair is up tight in a bun, which Louis figures means that it's pretty long. He kind of wants to know what it looks like down, but he's got no problem with the way Harry looks now.

Harry is so different from Niall, but Louis isn't sure it's in a bad way. It's not really in a good way, either. Harry is from Cheshire, and he co-runs a bakery there. He's worked there since school, but he loved it so much that he just kind of ...stayed, instead of going to uni. 

“You don't look like any baker I've ever met,” Louis tells him. Most bakers don't wear clothes that cost more than Louis' rent.

“Well, I'm a man of many talents.” Harry looks at Louis like he's trying to be mysterious, but it doesn't work on him. His grin is too obvious, his eyes too friendly. He's attractive in an entirely different way than Niall. He's taller and thinner than Louis. His eyes are a lovely green that Louis could probably get lost in if he let himself.

“What do you do?” Harry asks. He seems legitimately interested, even though Louis is sure he blokes he's going out with were told everything about him that he'd told the shows producers.

“I'm an actor. Sometimes. I work at a coffee shop, a non-Starbucks one. Nothing as exciting as baker.” He grins a little and taps his finger on his wine glass. He's not a big wine drinker himself, but when Harry had ordered a red it felt strange to let him drink alone, and he had felt awkward ordering a beer in a place this nice. This hadn't seemed like a beer sort of place at the time.

“Coffee and baking does go together a bit.” Harry grins. “Do you know, I heard a joke once about a barista and a baker.” He hums. “Maybe it was a banker. I don't remember.” He laughs to himself. “I do love a good joke, though. Do you like jokes?”

“I like jokes. Are there people who don't like jokes?” Louis blinks. Harry is weird, but he's not sure it's a bad thing. Harry is interesting.

“People don't always like my jokes.” He grins. “Knock Knock.”

Louis doesn't know why he's completely endeared that Harry tells knock knock jokes in completely unironic fashion, but he is. “Who's there?”

“Hula?” He grins, wide and happy over his wine glass.

“Hula who?”

“P.” Harry laughs, full and happy, and it's infectious. It's ridiculous, and Louis likes him a lot. He'd thought after last night that his decision would be easy, but it's decidedly not going to be easy now. He likes Niall and Harry both for very different reasons. He hopes his next two dates are ugly trolls with awful personalities, but at this point that doesn't seem very likely.

At the end of the night when the waiter brings the bill (which is for show anyway, and Louis doesn't know why they even bother), Harry says, “what did the duck say to the bartender?” 

Louis definitely knows where this is going, but he doesn't care. He just smiles and asks, “what?”

“Put it on my bill!” Harry barely gets out the punchline before he laughs at himself, and Louis thinks, _okay, well. I'm fucked._

+

Liam is.

Well.

Liam has arms. Liam has arms and probably abs and he's got broad shoulders that Louis can't stop staring at.

He's got pouty lips and a buzzcut and he looks like he could fuck Louis into oblivion, and Louis is well into that. He doesn't even need Liam to speak, really. Thinking about what sex would be like with Liam makes Louis torn about whether or not he wants to reject him in favor of Niall or Harry.

This has to be the hardest decision Louis will ever have to make. The worst.

They go bowling for their date, which Louis is awful at, but it gives him a lot of time to stare at Liam and his perfect bowling form. Louis learns very quickly that Liam wants to be the best at what he's doing, even if it's something silly like bowling on a blind date for a TV show. He tries to have the perfect form and his back is as nice to look at as his front is. Everything about Liam is terrible.

And then Louis finds out that he's _nice_ as well. 

They finish the first round (Liam wins, but Louis is sure that it's just because he's focusing on Liam and not the actual game), and after they sit drinking beers and eating chips, getting to know each other.

“I didn't drink for a long time,” Liam says, humming. “I only had one kidney, but then it fixed itself. My mate Andy took me out for a nice bender after that. My girlfriend had dumped me, and I was a bit – well.” He shrugs. “It wasn't a nice time.”

“Wait, did you just say that you _grew a kidney_?” Louis knows a bullshitting story when he hears one, and this guy is definitely bullshitting. “You don't have to work that hard to impress me. Not with those arms.” He pauses. “Um. Anyway, I don't believe that you _grew a kidney_.”

“I didn't grow it back! It was always there.” When Liam smiles his whole face lights up. Like. It's ridiculous, and Louis hates it. He hates the way it makes his insides jump around and his heart pound a little faster.

He's pretty sure that dating shows aren't supposed to be like this. He'd come into this thinking everyone would be awful and cutthroat and his choice would be easy.

“You've probably got some great job too, don't you? This is awful.”

“No, I just work in a factory back in Wolverhampton. We do aeroplane parts. I work with my dad. It's not that much fun, but it's alright. I didn't really have the marks for uni, and I auditioned for the X Factor twice. I even made it to Simon's house the first time, but the second I didn't make it past bootcamp.”

“So why did you do this?”

“My sister thought it would be good for me. I haven't dated in a while. I broke up with my fiancée about a year ago, and Ruth thought I needed to get back on the horse or whatever. I think it's a horrible idea.” 

“Oh.” Louis makes a note of that. It could at least make this part easier. Maybe he'll just automatically discount Liam and let him out of it, if it's that awkward.

“Hey, it's not like. It's not _you_. You're great, and if you chose me, I'd definitely like to give it a go. It's just, there's something I didn't really disclose to the producers.”

“Um.” Louis is like. He has no idea where this could be going. At all. “Okay, well, whatever it is, you can tell me.”

“I have this, like, kid. Baby. Thing.” He shrugs. “My ex, and me, it was sort of mutual. We fought a lot at the end, and neither one of us wanted to raise a baby like that, but then she travels a lot for work, and I'm more stable, so I keep her. It just makes dating hard. That's all. That's why Ruth said I should do this.”

“Oh, hey. Kids are good. I like kids. I have six younger siblings. I thought you were going to say you were dying or something. That's actually a relief.” 

“I guess I should have dropped the bombshell before I mentioned the kidney problems.” Liam laughs, with that same squinty eyed look that makes Louis' insides do the tango.

Louis hates Lottie and her terrible suggestions. He hates himself for thinking it was a great idea, and he's never drinking again.

As they play another game and Liam proceeds to crush him again, whilst telling him about his family and how much he wishes he were able to get out of Wolverhampton and the factory, while he's going on about how he wants to give his daughter things he never had, Louis thinks – 

\- well, he thinks there isn't much hope that tomorrow's date is going to be awful and at least make this decision a little bit easy.

+

For the final date Louis ends up at an art gallery. It's not the kind of place Louis would usually choose to go, but he's willing to give anything a shot. At least if nothing else, he already knows he probably doesn't have much in common with the guy.

Zayn shows up and, well. Louis chokes on his tongue. He doesn't think he's ever seen anyone so attractive outside of magazines. 

It turns out, the art gallery is showing a special series based on comic books, and Zayn, his gorgeous date, Zayn, has some pieces in the show. Louis is in love. Straight up, no question, in love. 

“I thought about singing for a while,” Zayn says, as he leads Louis through the pieces that aren't his own. “But my heart is really here.” He smiles. “This one is mine.” It's nothing elaborate. It's a ZAP with a red background and yellow letters, on a big black canvas, but something about it feels heavier than that. “I didn't go to art school or anything, but somehow I managed to get into some galleries.”

The next piece is a darker version of the Hulk, big, deep forest green and angry. It's a different interpretation. “You're really good,” Louis says. He's in awe. He finds out that The Hulk is Zayn's absolute favorite superhero, and Zayn doesn't make fun of him when he animatedly talks about Iron Man and how he feels a kinship with Tony Stark. 

“I've got a collection,” Louis says. “There are some earlier ones I'd love to find, but they're so expensive. It's ridiculous. Mum got me an early edition Iron Man last year, but it wasn't in great condition. It was okay though.”

“I found the first Hulk comic on eBay. Couldn't afford it.” He smiles. “I'll be honest, I'm what you'd call a starving artist, I suppose, but I don't mind. I get to do what I love. I guess some day when I'm old and I still live in a one room flat in the dodgy side of London it might bother me, but not so much now.”

“Maybe you'll get paid for your art?” Louis isn't really sure how someone goes from starving artist to legitimate money making artist, but he's certain it goes something like acting. The lucky ones will get their big break. The unlucky ones will do shit plays and adverts while working in coffee shops to make ends meet.

“Maybe. Stranger things and all that,” Zayn smiles. “You as well. You're an actor, right? I'm sure you'll catch your break. It's hard to believe you haven't yet.”

“Are you coming on to me, Zayn?” Louis grins. This part he's really good at. It's so much easier to flirt than it is to say that he's dangerously close to giving up. 

“You're changing the subject.” It hits Louis heavy in his chest that someone he's just met can sense when he's dodging the subject, and for a moment he hates Zayn, decides right then and there that he won't choose Zayn, but it feels nice that someone will call him on his bullshit in that way. 

He probably needs that.

“I don't know. I tried music, it didn't work. Now acting hasn't gone much better. I figure there comes a time when I need to admit that I should probably get my shit together and get an boring day job.”

“Boring day jobs are overrated.” Zayn bumps shoulders with him. “You're a risk taker. Only a risk taker would do something like going on a TV show to meet a guy. You'd be shit at day jobs.”

“You've only known me a few hours.”

“A few hours is enough.” Zayn grins. “Anyway, I'm going to give you one of these artworks.” He hums. “How about this one.” He gestures towards the ZAP painting. “Maybe you can look at it and remember that you're a risk taker. Or like, remember that day jobs are overrated.”

“Are you bribing me to pick you, Zayn?” Louis gives him a knowing look and pushes his fringe out of his eyes. “Because I'm not quite sure I can be bought.”

“It's a gift.” Zayn grins. “Although if it does happen to sway you in either direction, well. I never said that I wasn't one to bribe a dating show contestant to choose me as the winner.”

Louis is so so fucked. He has no idea what he's going to do.  
+

Louis can't sleep that night. His stomach is in knots, and he isn't sure what he's going to do. Tomorrow night he has to go on live television and choose a winner, and he liked every single one of the options for very different reasons.

He goes back over the dates in his head.

Niall is fun. Niall is open and friendly and excited about life in a way that Louis can't remember being for a long time. Louis wonders, briefly, what it would be like to have that kind of positivity and light in his life all of the time. 

Harry is beautiful. He's weird and kind of intriguing. He tells awful jokes, and Louis can't quite pinpoint what it is, but there's something underneath the weirdness that makes him curious. There's a strange mystery there, even where Harry is so very open with who he is and isn't afraid to make a fool of himself. It's something that Louis can respect.

Liam is strong. He's simple, and he's kind, and while he doesn't seem to have a lot in terms of money or drive, he seems like a settled person. Louis wouldn't hate having someone stable in his life, someone to settle with when he's feeling restless and lonely.

Zayn is gorgeous. Zayn knows him in ways that someone who'd just met probably shouldn't. They have a lot in common, and he'd been able to see parts of Louis that Louis always _always_ manages to hide.

Louis has no fucking idea what he's going to do tomorrow night. Maybe he can just default. Maybe he could refuse to show up to the studio. Maybe no one would even notice and it wouldn't be a big deal at all that he didn't make a final decision. People love drama. What's more dramatic than refusing to choose a winner and not showing up to let them all down.

Maybe he could ask for a redo. Another week of dates to make a _final_ choice. How could he possibly choose between four great guys after just one date? It only seems logical that he might need a second round to really seal his choice.

Except he thinks maybe that would just make the decision harder. He would probably only end up liking them all more and everything would be even more terrible.

Louis' phone buzzes with a text. The screen shows that it's Lottie.

This is all her fault anyway.

He silences his phone and puts a pillow over his face, trying whatever means he can to get to sleep and ignore this feeling in the pit of his stomach that's telling him he can't make this decision.

+

Louis wakes up the next day and pretends it's a normal day. He works a short shift at the coffee shop and then goes to the studio to get ready for the show. There's a lot of buzz, and he's being kept from the other four, presumably to stop them from asking him his decision. He wonders if any of them didn't like him.

That might actually be a blessing. If any one of them hated him, that would take him out of the equation. Louis thinks about trying to sniff them out for information. Maybe Nick knows. He's the host, after all. Surely he has some information that might be useful.

Except Nick Stupid Grimshaw is nowhere to be found. A PA tells Louis he's doing some interviews with the contestants before the show. Because of course he is. This is the kind of information Louis needs.

Someone, a producer, maybe, comes by and tells Louis that he's on in ten minutes. This is completely ridiculous. It's not that hard. He had liked all of them. He should just choose. It doesn't matter. It's just a second date, and it's just a silly dating show. It's not like he's going to end up marrying one of these guys.

Louis sighs and goes to wait off stage. He can see the others walking off the other side of the stage as Nick waves him on. 

“So, then, Louis, four dates, four guys. Any disasters?”

“I don't know. What did they say?” He grins, makes it sound natural like he's joking, but really he just wants to know if he can take any one out of the pool.

Although, he hasn't made a choice yet. How will he have one in the next ten minutes?

Nick laughs, full and amused. “Sorry, I'm not allowed to divulge that information.” Nick winks at him. Maybe Louis can just make a joke of this all, turn down the contestants, ask Nick on a date. _No_ , he thinks, _that's just ridiculous_. 

“They were all nice. Very different, but very nice. It was a difficult decision.” He smiles, breezily, tries to look like he hasn't been stressing over this. 

And what a ridiculous thing to stress about, it is.

Most people would be thrilled to have four guys like the ones he's considering competing for him. Louis just really sort of hates his life.

“Well, here's a montage of the last four evenings for everyone at home!” Nick nods and a large screen starts playing bits of each of the dates. Louis sighs. This is absolutely terrible. Nothing really sticks out at him, except for the fact that he really likes each and every one of them.

It's even evident on his face. It's in the way he laughs full and happy and Niall's jokes, the way he indulges in Harry's ridiculousness, the way he smiles at Liam's stories, and the way he hangs on Zayn's every word.

He curses his own betrayal.

The montage ends and Nick grins. “Well, how lovely was that. It seems you had a good time on these dates.” He pushes along. “Well, we've not told you this, but we have had the audience here secretly vote on who they think should win. Of course, the final decision is all yours, but do you want to hear the results?”

Louis thinks he doesn't, but he nods and says yes anyway. Maybe it will help him to know what other people thought.

It doesn't. It really doesn't.

It's not exactly a four way tie, but the split is even enough that it doesn't help Louis at all. Louis has to make a decision and he's no closer than he was twenty-four hours ago when his date with Zayn ended.

The next time Lottie has a bright idea he's going to hang up on her. Even if he _is_ completely trashed. 

Nick looks at him expectantly. “So, then, Louis, four dates, a montage, and an audience vote later, who do you choose? We've got Niall, Liam, Harry, and Zayn. All eligible, and whichever wins you'll be sent out with after the show for one more show-sponsored date. After that we don't care what you do!”

“I.” Louis blinks. “Um.” He glances across the four of them. They all look really good is the thing, and they all look hopeful and expectant. He doesn't want to let any of them down. He doesn't want to choose one before any of the others. He _likes_ them, all of them, and it may go against everything that he's ever considered but. “I decline to choose.” He grins. “Or, rather, I choose them all.”

Nick laughs nervously. “Well, that's got to be a first! I'm not sure the show is prepared. Is this a joke?”

“Nope.” Louis looks at the others and grins. “It's official, you're all winners.” The other four look at each other. Niall shrugs while Harry and Liam whisper something to each other and Zayn grins. “So then,” Louis says. “That's one last date for the five of us.” He walks over and centers himself in front of the others. “Are we ready to go?”

The audience doesn't seem to know how to react, and neither does Nick. “Well, I'm not sure if everyone won or no one won, but there we go! That's the show!” The audience starts laughing and cheering, though no one seems to know what they're cheering four.

Louis stops paying attention because the other four all close in on him for a group hug that he's in the center of. He laughs and thinks _yeah, this is good. Definitely the right choice._

**Author's Note:**

> To my recipient, Carolina: 
> 
> I loved the reality show prompt, and this is …sort of that but not really anything like what you described! I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. I couldn't settle on a pairing so in the end I decided why the hell not just go with an OT5! I hope you like it. Sorry it's a bit late. I was so frenzied because you gave me so many good prompts, and i couldn't quite settle!


End file.
